Talk:Tropolisine

I thought the stray neutron was only in the tropolisine on this planet?
Can anyone confirm this?

Firstly; It is possible that there could be, in fact, multiple tropolisines, though in what nature is unclear. Possibly it is supposed to be a group of psychoactives, such as Tryptamines, which contain many varied psychoactive molecules, such as DMT (Dimethyltryptamine [sic?] - found in small quantities in the human brain, as well as in many plants), Psilocybin (And Psilocin - magic mushrooms), Buffotenin[sic?] (Which is found in certain toads, amongst other things), and many others, including several variants of DMT.

Secondly; Phlox seems to have an understanding of tropolisine, to the degree that he knows what it is, and where it is usually found. This would indicate that he should know about the stray neutron, and the toxin it creates.

It is seemingly difficult to make a conclusion about tropolisine based on the evidence at hand in the episode. If all tropolisine has such toxin consequences, then Phlox, having proven knowledge of the compound, should probably have known about. Though the way he words it - 'each tropolisine atom contains a stray neutron' - doesn't make it explicit that is is only the tropolisine on the planet in question.

In the episode 'Strange New World', the effects of tropolisine are depicted as more of a deliriant than a hallucinogen.
Hallucinogens, such as LSD, typically only 'distort' the senses, allowing people to easily distinguish between the hallucinations and reality.
Deliriants, however, such as DPH (Diphenhydramine, an anti-histamine commonly used as a sleep aid) can cause much more disturbing 'hallucinations' - 'true hallucinations'.
True hallucinations are generally impossible to distinguish from reality, as is seen in the episode.
I'm not sure if this has that much bearing on the article, but I noted that it is described as a hallucinogen, when it seems more of a deliriant.

Although tropolisine is, in fact, fictional; there is no actual compound with that name; I can't help but wonder about it's composition.
Based purely on its name, one might reasonably assume it is related to 'Lysine', which is an essential amino acid - amino acids can have psychoactive effects.
There is also an alkaloid called 'tropine', along with others such as 'atropine', though again working with only the name, it seems unlikely to be related.
'Tropo' is a greek-derived prefix defined online as meaning 'turning'.
Anyone else have any interesting speculations to make?